


Hear You Me

by WakingNightmares



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Animal Death, Character Study, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-27 04:39:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18297011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WakingNightmares/pseuds/WakingNightmares
Summary: Alan Deaton has known Scott McCall for a long time.Scott McCall Appreciation Week: Before the Bite





	Hear You Me

Alan had known Scott McCall since he was six years old. He’d met the boy when he and his mother had brought in an abandoned puppy they’d found at the hospital where Melissa worked, and instantly, Deaton knew there was something special about him.

 

Maybe it was the way he’d insisted on staying until he knew the puppy would be okay -despite both Alan and his mother telling him there wasn’t anything actually wrong with the dog that a few days of good food wouldn’t cure.

 

Or perhaps it was the look on his face as he stood by the examination table, petting the little beagle terrier mix gently, and whispering soothing words the whole time Deaton examined it.

 

It could’ve been the way the puppy looked at him; like every bad thing in the world had disappeared, and only the small boy mattered.

 

Whatever it was, that night was the first time that Deaton had felt the brief stirrings of something in himself. When the ashes of his faith in humanity proved there were still coals to be fanned, that his beliefs weren’t as broken as he’d thought.

 

He’d told Scott that night, as mother and son prepared to leave, that Scott was welcome to return any time he wanted; that if he was interested, Alan could show him what it was like working with animals. Of course, Melissa had been understandably hesitant, but between Alan’s long-time reputation in Beacon Hills, and Scott’s pleading, she’d eventually relented, and agreed that Scott could come over twice a week after school, and for a few hours on Saturday.

 

Later, Alan would come to understand that Melissa wasn’t home as often as she felt she should be; that she knew her husband was barely functioning even when he was home. That Scott spending time at the clinic meant he wasn’t at home listening to the raging fights that had started becoming more common, or listening to his father stumble around the house, drunker than sin.

 

And Alan, for his part, had tried to ease some of Scott’s troubles, as much as he could. It mostly involved just being a friendly ear, with a little advice thrown in on occasion.

 

Eventually, Scott had brought a friend along with him. A freckled, disproportioned boy with a bucktooth smile, and constantly moving mouth. A boy who’d introduced himself as ‘Stiles -nobody’s-allowed-to-know-my-real-name-Stilinski’. A few months later, he’d brought another boy, this one quieter, most hesitant and reserved, who offered a barely whispered ‘Theo, Theo Raeken, sir’ when Alan had asked his name.

 

His friends didn’t come by often; mostly they stopped in when they were looking for Scott, who -by that point -had begun spending most of his time after school at the clinic.

 

The then-seven year old had told Alan that the fighting at home had gotten worse; that his mom and dad fought whenever the two of them were in the same room. That he could hear her crying in her room, and his dad was taking longer and longer trips out of town.

 

Then had come the fateful day when Scott announced that his dad had left; he didn’t know why. Of course, Alan could imagine it had something to do with the large bruise, barely visible underneath his floppy hair; but if Scott didn’t know, Alan wasn’t going to be the one who told him.

 

While upset, Scott had taken it mostly instride. He’d told Alan that, while he missed his dad, his mom was happier, even if she was working more. She didn’t cry as much. As an afterthought, he’d added that he hoped his dad was happier too, like his mom.

 

His altruism had simultaneously warmed Alan’s heart, while making him cry a bit. How could a boy twenty years his junior be so selfless, so… good, where Alan himself had faltered and fallen?

 

That had been a bad year for Scott, all the way around. The year everything had went wrong.

 

A few months after Rafael McCall had vanished, without a word to Scott, tragedy struck again. While out walking Roxie, the little beagle terrier, they’d been attacked by a doberman pinscher. Scott had managed to walk away mostly unscathed, with only a cut hand, and an asthma attack that sent him to the hospital.

 

Roxie, however, hadn’t been so lucky. In defending her human, the poor thing had taken on a dog three times her size, and while she’d protected Scott, her injuries had cost her her life.

 

When Scott arrived from the hospital, he’d been just in time. He’d sat with Roxie for those last few minutes, whispering how good of a friend she’d been, and it was okay; he didn’t want her to be in pain.

 

She’d died five minutes later. Scott had stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes, and formally -and very seriously -invited Alan to her funeral.

 

It had been very moving. Very touching, with Scott sharing the story of how Roxie had given her life to protect him. Even his ever-jabbering friend Stiles had been moved to silence.

 

Then Stiles’ mother had died. Scott had told Alan that it felt like he’d lost his best friend, but that was okay; he understood that Stiles needed ‘time to heal’, and he’d wait until he was better, because that’s what good friends do.

 

Then his friend Theo had lost his sister after she’d gotten lost in the woods. The Raekens had moved shortly thereafter. And Scott had lost another friend.

 

But it was okay, Scott had explained. He understood. Being in Beacon Hills was just too painful, and he didn’t blame the Raekens at all for leaving, although he was sad that Theo wasn’t around anymore.

 

Through it all, Alan had simply marveled, awestruck by the sheer goodness of this young boy, who was more concerned for others than himself. He constantly put his own needs last, if he ranked them at all, completely selfless in everything he did.

 

And so Alan watched, as Scott grew. Grew into a young man that any father could be proud of, always looking out for his friends, always the gentleman, always polite, and always -always -caring.


End file.
